Darkness vs. Martial Arts - Monotype Battle (Dark vs. Fighting)

So what's up Smogon? Lately I've been into Monotype battles, and I wanted to go about making a Mono-Dark team. Dark is a very tricky type to work with; its weaknesses are easily exploitable and their members are very weak to Mach Punch. After some testing and fixes, I went and did another battle, and found that I was going up against..... Mono-Fighting. I have an obvious weakness to Fighting, but I wanted to see how this would turn out.

This was on the Pokemon Online server, because I find that Smogon users apparently don't do much Monotype.

Turn one and I feel like I'm already at a disadvantage. He's leading with an Infernape; I feel that he'll probably try to kill my Scrafty with a Close Combat. However, I have also known Infernape leads to carry Stealth Rock, and if those are up, it'll be a bad day for Honchkrow and Weavile. However, I absolutely do not want to lose Scrafty, so I decide to just switch out.

Turn 1

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Scrafty back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Sableye!

The foe's Infernape used Close Combat!It had no effect!

He does end up going for the Close Combat, so that worked out well on my part. I'm assuming that his Infernape is choiced in some way, so he will probably switch out. Now here's what I wanna do: Whatever comes in is going to get severely crippled by my Sableye, because I have Trick + Lagging Tail. So I go for the Trick, because I know that most Mono-Fighting teams carry Scrafty, and I do not want that thing killing most of my team by getting a Dragon Dance under its belt.

In comes Scrafty. Scrafty receives Lagging Tail. Scrafty will now always move after Honchkrow, which will really make things a lot easier, since Scrafty can OHKO just about everything on my team. I really need to be able to OHKO the gangster with Honchkrow's Brave Bird, otherwise I won't be able to do a whole lot. Now I don't really know what to do: Taunt is a bit risky, as Sableye will be losing a good chunk of its health if Scrafty goes for Crunch. However, if I go for Will-O-Wisp, he might end up having Shed Skin and the burn will be useless. However, I usually see Moxie on Scrafty, so I assume it'll be safe to go for Will-O-Wisp. He has a Lagging Tail now anyway, so he can't do a whole lot even with a Dragon Dance.

So he decided to Dragon Dance instead, although I don't find it that threatening since, as I said before, he has a Lagging Tail. However, in case he has Shed Skin instead of Moxie, I now don't want him getting too many boosts, since I want to get Honchkrow in safely, so I decide to Taunt this turn.

Turn 4

Sableye used Taunt!The foe's Scrafty fell for the taunt!

The foe's Scrafty can't use Dragon Dance after the taunt!

The foe's Scrafty's Shed Skin heals its status!

Sableye sticks up his middle finger at Scrafty (That is how Taunt works, right?) and Scrafty now can't use Dragon Dance. Now, the attacking move he will go for..... I'm thinking he will go for Crunch, and a +1 Crunch without a Life Orb is obviously not gonna be doing a whole lot to Honchkrow, so I feel that this is a good time to unleash dat Honchkrow.

Turn 5

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Sableye back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Honchkrow!

The foe's Scrafty used Crunch!It's not very effective... Honchkrow lost 38% of its health!Honchkrow's Defense fell!

It did 38%. That's just testament to how stupidly weak Scrafty is without Moxie and Life Orb, as it still would not have OHKOed (it would have done 76% had Honchkrow not resisted it). But I digress. Anyway, now that I got Honchkrow in, there's only one thing to do: BRAVE BIRD EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!

Turn 6

Honchkrow used Brave Bird!It's super-effective! The foe's Scrafty lost 87% of its health!

The foe's Scrafty fainted!Honchkrow is hit with recoil!Honchkrow is hurt by its life orb!

Ok, not really everything. He brings in his Infernape now, and I do NOT want to be taking a Flare Blitz, Mach Punch, Close Combat, or anything among those lines. This is the Pokemon Online server, so I'm thinking that this Infernape has a Choice Scarf, like what seems to be most Infernapes on the Pokemon Online server. I wanna get into Sableye, trick that Choice Scarf away, and then revenge kill it with Hydreigon. I know I have enough investment on Sableye to live at least one Flare Blitz.

Turn 7

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Honchkrow back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Sableye!

The foe's Infernape used Flare Blitz!Sableye lost 64% of its health!The foe's Infernape is hit with recoil!

Sableye restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

My assumption was correct, Sableye can live one Flare Blitz and I live to trick away his Scarf. Sorry Infernape, I'm gonna have to take your fashionable scarf away from you. Here, you can have some food to make up for it, I bet you're hungry after that Flare Blitz.

Somehow I assumed right that he was scarfed. So now that I get Hydreigon in..... Well why would I think about this? He resists Flamethrower, I don't really have much of a reason to U-turn, Focus Miss is stupid, so.... Okay, let's go for Draco Meteor.

Turn 9

Hydreigon used Draco Meteor!The foe's Infernape lost 70% of its health!

Okay, I'm locked into an attack Cobalion resists and at -2 Special Attack? I'm outta here. But now.... I don't have Sableye left, and I might be able to save Honchkrow for later, so I don't know what can be a safe switch-in to Cobalion. Bisharp can't really do a whole lot to it, and Scrafty needs boosts to do it, which it can't get against Cobalion. The only thing bar Hydreigon I have that can outspeed it is Weavile, so I think that'll be my safest Pokemon to go into, as I think I can do a decent chunk with Low Kick.

Turn 10

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Hydreigon back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Weavile!

Alright! Weavile's in unscathed! That almost never happens. So he's gone for a Swords Dance, so here's my gameplan: Weavile cannot OHKO Cobalion with Low Kick, and Cobalion can obviously OHKO Weavile with anything. So I'm going to Low Kick to at least do something to Cobalion, then go back into Hydreigon to revenge kill it with a Flamethrower.

Turn 11

Weavile used Low Kick!It's super-effective! The foe's Cobalion lost 72% of its health!The foe's Cobalion's Air Balloon popped!Weavile is hurt by its life orb!

The foe's Cobalion used Sacred Sword!It's super-effective! Weavile lost 90% of its health!

In case you didn't notice from the way I'm playing Hydreigon: Yes, it's scarfed. Anyway, I know for sure his Cobalion doesn't have a choice item, since he obviously used Swords Dance, so it's going to die very easily to a Flamethrower. Let's go ahead and cook me some Cobalion for dinner, I'm hungry!

Turn 12

Hydreigon used Flamethrower!It's super-effective! The foe's Cobalion lost 27% of its health!

Alright, I'm locked into a non-STAB attack and against something that can threaten me with Mach Punch? I'm outta here. I don't really have much that can switch in on a Mach Punch, though; Scrafty can't, and Bisharp and its terrible typing definitely can't. Scrafty is such a crucial pivot in my team, so I have to keep it, and Bisharp is probably up there with one of my team's most crucial players; it OHKOes things you would not imagine. At this point, I think the safest play is to sac Honchkrow and get Hydreigon back in.

Turn 13

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Hydreigon back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Honchkrow!

The foe's Conkeldurr used Mach Punch!Honchkrow lost 28% of its health!

After sacrificing Honchkrow, I notice something about this Conkeldurr: It's a Guts abuser. I have used and known this variant of Conkeldurr to be very deadly. At this point, I'm not sure if Hydreigon can live a Mach Punch, since his Attack is now exceeding 600. I'm also unsure if a Modest Draco Meteor coming off of scarfed Hydreigon can KO. However, I have nothing that can switch in on a Guts-boosted Mach Punch, so I have to risk it.

Turn 14

The foe's Conkeldurr used Mach Punch!It's super-effective! Hydreigon lost 79% of its health!

Hydreigon used Draco Meteor!The foe's Conkeldurr lost 92% of its health!Hydreigon's Special Attack sharply fell!

Alright, I'm at -2 Special Attack. I don't wanna be taking a Close Combat. I'm outta here. I don't know what to switch in on the Close Combat; Bisharp might not be very useful in this battle, as I have no Speed investment, although I don't see Scrafty being particularly useful either at this point. I don't think it really matters, so I just sacrifice Scrafty to change moves with Hydreigon and hit Heracross with a Flamethrower.

Turn 15

[Test] LucaroarkZ called Hydreigon back!
[Test] LucaroarkZ sent out Scrafty!

The foe's Heracross used Close Combat!It's super-effective! Scrafty lost 100% of its health!

Murder time. There's one guy he hasn't shown me yet though. I don't know what it is, since PO's Monotype tier doesn't have team preview. However, since it is a Mono-Fighting team, I'm assuming he's got a Breloom, and seeing as he was probably trying to avoid Honchkrow, he probably doesn't have Mach Punch and is probably running a Poison Heal sub-puncher. I think that's a safe assumption, since he already had a Guts-abusing Conkeldurr as a priority abuser anyway, and that used alongside TechniLoom seems a little redundant. I think it's pretty safe to lock myself into Flamethrower.

Turn 16

Hydreigon used Flamethrower!It's super-effective! The foe's Heracross lost 100% of its health!

Bye bye, Beetle. Now, in comes Breloom, so my assumption was correct. Now, the deal is, if he has Mach Punch, I lose. If he doesn't, I win. However, as I said before, Conkeldurr and Techniloom on the same team is a little unorthodox, so I just go for another Flamethrower and await my fate.

Turn 17

Hydreigon used Flamethrower!It's super-effective! The foe's Breloom lost 100% of its health!

Moderator

I'll be frank, I didn't like this battle. Your opponent did not switch, not once. You may have played well, but it takes two to tango. Also I felt that the I'm outta here line was used one to many times.

There wasn't really any predicting or switching, you made a couple of questionable switches at the beginning (switching Weakvile into a fighting type is a big no-no) and your opponent made a whopping 1 switch after his Scarfnape was locked into CC vs Sableye.

Try and warstory a battle that is more than just Scarfdreigon revenging everything next time.

Not to mention, against an infernape that you believed to be scarfed on flare blitz, you first tricked. Why? You could've recovered and forced him to take more damage from flare blitz, and potentiall even forced him out.

Not to mention, against an infernape that you believed to be scarfed on flare blitz, you first tricked. Why? You could've recovered and forced him to take more damage from flare blitz, and potentiall even forced him out.

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I didn't want his Infernape revenge killing anything, and I especially didn't want it revenging Scrafty. Losing Sableye and crippling something in the process seems a much better play than annoying it with Recover to me.

There wasn't really any predicting or switching, you made a couple of questionable switches at the beginning (switching Weakvile into a fighting type is a big no-no) and your opponent made a whopping 1 switch after his Scarfnape was locked into CC vs Sableye.

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Did I really have much that can switch in on a Fighting-type? Honchkrow was at pretty low health, and this is Mono-Dark. Just about everything else I had left would have been a worse switch-in than Weavile, and I needed to keep Hydreigon. Hydreigon is such a valuable member of my team, and I couldn't afford losing it. I'd much rather have lost Weavile. I pretty much had no choice but to either go about revenging with Scarf Hydreigon or killing it with Honchkrow, depending on the Pokemon.

I agree my opponent could have made more switches, though, especially after it became pretty obvious that my Hydreigon was scarfed.

I didn't want his Infernape revenge killing anything, and I especially didn't want it revenging Scrafty. Losing Sableye and crippling something in the process seems a much better play than annoying it with Recover to me.

Did I really have much that can switch in on a Fighting-type? Honchkrow was at pretty low health, and this is Mono-Dark. Just about everything else I had left would have been a worse switch-in than Weavile, and I needed to keep Hydreigon. Hydreigon is such a valuable member of my team, and I couldn't afford losing it. I'd much rather have lost Weavile. I pretty much had no choice but to either go about revenging with Scarf Hydreigon or killing it with Honchkrow, depending on the Pokemon.

I agree my opponent could have made more switches, though, especially after it became pretty obvious that my Hydreigon was scarfed.

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But if it wasn't scarfed, which was entirely possible, that's not crippling. And giving it lefties isn't crippling either. Not to mention, if you keep recovering it's not just annoying, it could be fatal, and you might even succeed in forcing him out, allowing you to deal with him more suitably later.

am i missing something, or could scarfnape cc everything on your team to death after sableye died?

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I used Trick to get rid of its Choice Scarf. That way, I'd ensure that Hydreigon could outspeed and KO with Draco Meteor. Sableye is just about my only member that can actually switch in on Close Combats.

Then keep Sableye around longer, I actually play monotype so I know that if you're against a team that completely screws you over you keep the one check you've got alive as long as possible.

Just about everything else I had left would have been a worse switch-in than Weavile, and I needed to keep Hydreigon. Hydreigon is such a valuable member of my team, and I couldn't afford losing it. I'd much rather have lost Weavile.

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Bisharp was dead weight on your team anyways so you could have saced him, it's also funny that you say you wanted to sac Weakvile to get Hydreigon in for free when earlier you said

fat in the warstory said:

The only thing bar Hydreigon I have that can outspeed it is Weavile, so I think that'll be my safest Pokemon to go into, as I think I can do a decent chunk with Low Kick.

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that sure implies you expected Weakvile to survive long enough to use Low Kick, it's also worth pointing out that Modest Scarfdreigon only does 89.5% - 105.6% to 4/0 Cobalion with Flamethrower, meaning that if Weakvile had died before it could Low Kick you would have had to rely on the less than ideal accuracy of Focus Blast to beat Cobalion.

I pretty much had no choice but to either go about revenging with Scarf Hydreigon or killing it with Honchkrow, depending on the Pokemon.

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I'm actually going to agree with you here, but that doesn't make this warstory any better, saying "I didn't have to predict because all I could do was revenge stuff" is a terrible excuse for a sub-par warstory.

I liked this. I don't know a thing about the monotype meta but I could imagine that switching just isn't that common, or easy, when your whole team shares a certain typing and your opponent has a permanent advantage over your type. Which is why saying stuff like "NO SWITCHING = BAD" is kinda unfair. Also,

Well I don't think this warstory was terrible, but really it wasn't spectacular either. The monotype nature of it certainly added a bit of interest, but really what it boiled down to was repetitive gameplay. Sac, revenge, sac, revenge. The format and commentary we're fine, though the commentary was a bit uninspired... but it's not like you had much to comment on anyway.

next time I suggest you chose a more interesting battle. Just because you have what appears to be an unlikely victory (mono-dark beating mono-fighting) doesn't mean it's interesting. Next time choose something where there's more strategizing and predicting involved... basically this one boiled down to you having one way to win, and using it. However, I must give you props for tricking that scarf away from Infernape, realizing it was your only hope to win. A risky move, but it is what allowed you to do all that revenging with Hydreigon.

Pretty much this. I have nothing against the way you played, as you did well. Switching weaville into cobalion wasn't a bigg deal, because you're running a mono dark team anyway and you were banking on him setting up. Your opponent, however, wasn't that great. Good match on your end, but not good warstory material, sadly. Write up another in the future.

Alright, I'll give you props for a doing a monotype warstory, but I got to say, it was pretty boring. Your opponent made terrible predictions (no offense to him) and never switched out, giving you an easy win. Plus, there really wasn't any prediction at all except for the first few turns. After that, it was just you sacking a mon, then killing with Hydriegon, sacking a mon, then killing with Hydriegon, ect.

well, the fact that dark beat fighting was *kinda* cool, but your opponent sucked too much for it to be a good warstory /:.

when he was in with infernape against sableye, he should have switched to heracross /: it's basically the *perfect* sableye counter. he also could have just spammed fighting moves with cobalion instead of swords dancing since everything to cc anyway...

Just a pointout , predicting turn 1 that his mono fire or fighting has a Scrafty is lol . Don't see the next line in the log and post above to make it look like you made a wow prediction . Same goes for you predicting he had a Breloom